▲ Research showed Korean students are in lack of sleep

The Korea Youth Policy Institute announced the results of its survey recently. The survey was conducted in 2019 on 8,201 elementary, middle, and high school students and 310 teachers. According to the results, the average sleeping time for Korean teenagers is about 7 hours and 18 minutes, with more than half suffering from sleep deprivation.

The survey showed that the average sleeping time for students was 7 hours and 18 minutes, 8 hours and 41 minutes for elementary school students, 7 hours and 21 minutes for middle school students, and 6 hours and 3 minutes for high school students. Compared to the average sleeping time (8 hours and 22 minutes) of OECD countries, Korean teenagers sleep very short. 55.2 percent, or more than half of the respondents, said they lacked sleep. Among the reasons for lack of sleep (multiple responses), 62.9 percent said studying. Internet access (49.8 percent), private institutes and private tutoring (43.1 percent), and chatting (42.7 percent) followed.

In particular, the more difficult the economy is, the shorter the time to sleep. When the household economic level was divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, the research found that the sleep time of teenagers corresponding to the "upper" was 7 hours 37 minutes, "middle" 7 hours 10 minutes, and "lower" 6 hours and 52 minutes. 52 minutes.

▲ Research found economic factor also affect sleeping time of students.

The survey also found that the average number of hours spent on sports was 2.64 hours per week. As many as 6.9 percent of high school seniors said they did not do any physical activity during physical education classes. "Because of the academic-oriented living environment, teenagers do not enjoy basic rights to exercise, nutrition, and rest, which are the basic elements of health," the researchers said. "We need to create an environment where exercise, nutrition, and rest can balance learning."

▲ The academic-orientated life of Korean students leads to human rights violation

November 25, 2020

by Shin Seung-won